Casualties

230 billion dollars
spent
2000 US Soldiers
dead
Iraqi casualties
unknown
unreported, uninportant
because we
are better
for being born
on this land;

home of the free
home of the brave
home of the slave
home of the homes
without families
families without
love
and love
without life

I cry at night
this barbarian war
the distance
weve created between us h u ma n s,
all
breathing
in
the air, the blood, the smog
gasping,
grasping for something
we
allready
have.

The Strange Case Of The Pretty Birds (2)

Yesterday I found a wing.
There was no bird attached to it.
Yellow and black feathers still bright.
Is my preoccupation with these dead birds becomming destructive?
I can't stop though...I won't stop till I figure out what is going wrong.
We have found five dead birds in the past week on our block.
The cause of their death is unknown and I can't help
but think it has to do with the toxicity
in the air after 9-11.
I doubt it's bird flue,
although who knows?
What will it take for us to stop.
Hurricanes, mad-cow, oil wars...
the courage to fight is sometimes so hard
to find
but never
too far
away.

What government department will handle my problems?

Boys

How disappointing you are to me...
You told me that you liked my
art
but I think you meant to say
ass

A potential lover
upon visiting my website
sends me a text message
pesky digital spurts
of empty words...

"Ur website is cool! That pic is hot! need more. send me some sexy pics"

disconnected
did you stop to read my writing?
is that really all you have to say?
the pain of being unseen, the drama
of knowing, living feelings
that echo without sound.

I like extraterrestrials

I like to look over
to see you
there
sometimes
I stare
to see if you notice
or if you're
aware
if you
care

Still you go about
your business
reading
that book
about planets
and stars
and mars
while I on earth
call out for
connection
with a man
who lives in
outerspace

The Strange Case of The Pretty Birds

I don't know where they came from
or how it is they happened to fall
onto the street
together

The pretty birds
their exotic beauty
undeniable now
as they lay on the red brick
blue and gold feathers
rustling
in the cold October breeze.

Birds and Buildings...
the people passed by
undeterred and unaffected
the lady jogger
the non-discript family
pushing a stroller
spinning the wheels.

a tear fell from my eye
a tear for the birds and I
alone watching, wondering
would anybody else be
crying,
wishing,
whying
for the life, now stolen
undeniable lay?



October 16, 2005

I found the birds on my way back from the gym. They were lying perfectly side by side as if someone had placed them there to make a statement.
I stood and stared at them for a while, wondering how it was they came to be.
Two birds obviously belonging to completely different species,
resting forever in the stillness of death.

After about 15 minutes with the birds, I came upstairs to tell my room-mate about what I had seen. He suggested that I call 311 and report the incident so that the health department so that they could examine the birds for West Nile Virus or Asian Bird Flue. I called right away and after multiple transfers from department to department, I found myself on the phone with a Mr. Eric Mack from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. He told me that he would put in the report but that if I wanted to I could dispose of the birds myself. Mr. Mack went on tell me how to do that without getting coodies and then gave me a reference number for our transaction.

We, my room-mate and I, decided to pick up the birds ourselves and try to get in touch with the proper authorities. This was just to odd to leave to chance, or as it were, the department of sanitation. Here were two birds, one completely in tact, no clear sign of death, and the other with a smashed in cranium. Strange. I wondered if it was some kind of omen. What does it all mean? What am I supposed to do?

We picked up the birds in some plastic, downstairs deli, bags. We individually wrapped the birds and brought them up-stairs and hung them off the fire escape. I hope they stay cold enough out there. When I got back from work I saw the bag hanging outside the living-room window and wondered if we had done the right thing.

When I lived in Cozumel the descendants of Mayan Indians lived across the street and around the jungle by our house. It was rumored that these people would cast spells on animals and flowers and leave them outside your house so that you would find them. Now, in the stillness of the night, with the full moon casting its florescent glow throughout the apartment, I couldn’t help but remember those far away moments.
I lit a candle and stared out the window at the pretty birds in the plastic bag, rustling in the cold night air.

Noise and Catnip

Noise and Catnip

Everyday, it is increasingly more difficult
to talk with another human being
face to face.
With such interesting, updatable, degradeable devises
the cell-phone and Instant Messaging,
who has the time to talk anymore?

consciousness corroded
radioactive waves
caress my brain
little kitten on cocaine
little kitten gone insane

As I purr like a catnipped kitten
Prrrrrrrrrr

I live in a mass-mediated culture
that encourages consumption
in every which way
A culture of corrosive ideology
where we want to have everything
but don't ever want to pay
because we are rich and we can
It's the Man
Uncle Sam
My boy Dan
Auntie Fran
And...me?

Americans support the empirical rule of the bourgeoisise
the rich folks have always ruled the world
ever since corn became a crop
and my daddy made more than yours
the whores and scores to make us better
wetter, money hungry go getters
at the expense of their own spiritual freedom.

Pursuing the proletariat ideal
we dwindle down democracy
forget what we feel, what's real
is what we choose to see
what we watch on TV
its free for a reason
nothing comes without a cost
our freedom
our reason
our soul
is lost


Self control has been thrown out the window
I'm surprised at the truths that I find
when I put down my distractions
and jump unprepared as I may be
and as scared as I am
I can fly
As scared as I am I can fly

In the day to day grind I disappeared.
In the everyday amusements
watched my own execution.

As a people we can decide what is valuable,
as a people united by our own humanity.
our real intention is to live love.

The only way to encourage consumption
Is by corroding our consciousness...
If I was aware of myself
at peace with my mind
then I would not feign for escape.
I would stay here
and be happy

How easy it is to eat myself away
to disappear beneath a smoky veil of solitude and self pity
to lash out at the world like a captive tiger
prisoner in the cage of my mind
to watch a flick
and look behind.


This submissive weed watches with eyes of envy and greed.
It cannot grow without devouring the life beneath its roots.
How is the human race any better I wonder?
The sins of our everyday existence
saw the seeds of our demise.
It is much easier to believe that destruction is arbitrary...indeed,
"ignorance is bliss"
and Hurricanes don't "just happen"
out of the blue.


But there were many warnings
Everyday many signs
that we are falling, crawling
using up resources the earth does not have.

"Damned Americans, are spending the world"
they say rushing off to the cinema,
Pepsi in hand, to catch the latest Hollywood blockbuster.
What the fuck else is there to do? Think? Reflect...
I want to look in front of me instead of walking on top of rusty memories
I trip all the time though
some days I wake up fat
some days I'm drowning
before I open my eyes
some days I want to cry
some days I wish I could..

We sat at the dining room table,
savoring our low carb dinner of chicken and cheese,
chatting about the day's events.
The stereo breathed out rock metal as the candles flickered excitedly about,
casting shadows on the walls of our sweet downtown apartment.
Relaxing, this melodic moment of food and friendship
freed me temporarily from the stress and strain of big city living.

Seems to be were always hustling; bustling frantically about
just to have those silly things we can not be without.

After dinner, my room mate lays on the coach in front of the television set.
Eating doritos, she watches "The Swan" and feels inadequate.
"I need of a new look" she whines.
"I desperately need a make-over!"
So after shopping for a brand new Fall wardrobe,
she stops in to some Soho trendy hair salon.
Believing that blondes have more fun
she cuts her hair and gets highlights
for the bargain price of only $485 (plus tax).

She feels better...
for a little while.
She can smile with her veneers
get some proactive
make that skin clear
disappear in the fear
that she will never get married
and that nobody will see
who she could be if she didn't have to try so hard.

If she didn't try so hard
she would be lovely.



Everyday, it is increasingly more difficult
Every way
to talk face to face with you